The End of Policing
by Alex S. Vitale, Alex Vitale · first published 2017
80% recommend10% neutral10% critical
Why HN recommends it
Argues that policing mostly criminalizes social problems and that money spent on health, housing, and education would do more good; recommended to readers wanting a reasoned case for reducing policing's role.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"How the police endanger us and why we need to find an alternative. Recent years have seen an explosion of protest and concern about police brutality and repression--especially after long-held grievances in Ferguson, Missouri, erupted in months of violent protest following the police killing of Michael Brown. Much of the conversation has focused on calls for enhancing police accountability, increasing police diversity, improving police training, and emphasizing community policing. Unfortunately, none of these is likely to produce results, because they fail to get at the core of the problem. Th
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…already think it's a failure). The book has me convinced that it's cheaper for society, overall, to just pay to help people rather than funding the punitive system that's currently in place. [0] The End of Policing, by Alex S. Vitale pg 97 ^^ This book is excellent. I've already bought copies for three people who are close to me who I think will be open to its message.
on “Californians aren’t leaving the state en masse but are leaving San Francisco” ↗Verso has also made the ebook edition of Alex Vitale’s excellent “The End of Policing” free: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2426-the-end-of-policing TLDR: any society which refuses to provide social democratic floors to people will increasingly rely on violence to maintain its social…
on “To Make Police Accountable, End Qualified Immunity” ↗Tangentially related: Alex S. Vitale's book "The End of Policing" is currently free in e-book from Verso: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2817-the-end-of-policing Worth reading to familiarize oneself with leftist views on institution of Policing. Likely some eye-opening…
on “How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change” ↗I’d suggest a wonderful book called The End of Policing by Alex Vitale. I’ve read it cover to cover many times and it may include some insight that you’d enjoy.
on “RateOurCops – Like Yelp, but for Cops” ↗It's not too soon to read Vitale's "End of Policing," which was a hot read during George Floyd, and has not grown less relevant.
on “Police in Austin, San Francisco skirt facial recognition ban” ↗…share the fears of a surveillance state. I'm not convinced you do, as "over-enforcement" is a totally inadequate term for the extant systemic oppression even organic policing imposes. Have you read The End of Policing, yet, or The New Jim Crow, or even watched the documentary 13th? > the technology in question can save something Maybe it can, but maybe so can something else. Something less costly, less constricting.…
on “The Age of the Drone Police Is Here” ↗…is well funded, regardless of the community it serves. I think criminalizing social issues has proven to be pretty ineffective, generally harmful, and really expensive. I'd recommend checking out "The End of Policing" for a thoughtful, well-reasoned argument for decreasing the number of police. The ebook is free: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2426-the-end-of-policing
on “Minneapolis City Council members announce intent to disband police department” ↗…disappears at midnight and we devolve into 'the purge'. We want to take the money spent on violence and spend it on solving problems instead of criminalizing symptoms. There's a nice Q&A by the author of The End of Policing [1] if you want to a more casual overview, although the ebook [2] is currently free. [0]: https://www.defendingblacklives.org/defund-police-sign-on/ [1]: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2020/06/03/457251670...…
on “To defund the police, activists rewrote city budgets” ↗See also: the police. (Relevant book: The End of Policing)
on “To protect kids, don’t send report cards home on Fridays” ↗…but IDK yet) Less Leisure Stuff: Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration and How to Achieve Real Reform by John Pfaff Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond The End Of Policing by Alex S Vitale Either Manufacturing Consent or Understanding Power by Chomsky The Annotated Turing by Charles Petzold Work: Code Complete 2 by Steve McConnell The Web Application Hacker's Handbook:…
on “Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?” ↗…people trying to overcome homelessness. For example, did you crash on someone's couch in the last thirty days? Doesn't matter if you've got nowhere to crash tonight, you don't qualify for a bed. [0] The End of Policing, by Alex S. Vitale first edition pg 97 [1] https://99percentinvisible.org/need/
on “LA pays $2600 per homeless tent, per month” ↗…people trying to overcome homelessness. For example, did you crash on someone's couch in the last thirty days? Doesn't matter if you've got nowhere to crash tonight, you don't qualify for a bed. [0] The End of Policing, by Alex S. Vitale first edition pg 97 [1] https://99percentinvisible.org/need/ Edited to format
on “LA pays $2600 per homeless tent, per month” ↗I tried to read "The End of Policing". I got half way through chapter 1 before the author stated, as support for his argument, that The Bell Curve was "overtly racist". Now, you could argue that lots of racists like that book, that the authors…
on “Show HN: An anti-book recommendation tool, to help you escape your echo chamber” ↗